The present invention relates to a chuck device for containers, a conveyor device equipped with the chuck device, and a chuck claw thereof.
An example of a conveyor device used with a beer bottle inspection device or the like is a rotating star wheel device in which a disc referred to as a star wheel is formed with multiple pockets into which bottles are fit. By supporting and releasing bottles from the pockets, bottles can be placed in appropriate positions along the rotation path of the star wheel. Examples of bottle supporting structures of the star wheel device include one that uses a suction cup (e.g., Japanese laid-open patent publication number Hei 11-106039) and one that uses a pair of chuck claws that can open and close (e.g., Japanese laid-open patent publication number Hei 10-7243).
Chuck-type star wheel devices are believed to be better suited for high-speed operations than suction-types, but designing a mechanical chuck device requires simple mechanisms and flexibility in operations. Also, when multiple chuck devices are to be provided, it must be possible to quickly attach and remove chuck claws to the chuck devices or else the maintenance for the chuck claws becomes too complex.